The present disclosure relates to boot bindings for snow gliding boards such as snowboards and splitboards. The disclosure particularly relates to ankle and toe straps for such boot bindings.
Snowboarding is a popular recreational activity where the rider glides down a snow-covered mountain, hill, or slope while standing with their feet attached to a single snow glide board known as a snowboard. The concept is similar to snow skiing except both feet are attached to a single snow glide board instead of each foot attached to its own separate ski.
Snowboard riders or “snowboarders” often share downhill snow-covered slopes with skiers. Popular downhill slopes are often accessed by ski lifts to take the skier or snowboarder up to the top of the slope. Some snowboarders are interested in accessing downhill slopes in the backcountry away from crowded ski slopes and where the snow is fresh. However, climbing up mountains and slopes with thick fresh soft snow can be challenging.
Splitboards were developed to allow snowboarders access to the backcountry and areas that are normally not accessible to snowboarders. A splitboard is a snowboard separable into two separate parts along the length of the board, with one foot bound to each portion of the board. To climb uphill, or “tour,” the backcountry the splitboard rider, or “splitboarder,” separates the splitboard and uses it like cross country skis. For the purpose of this disclosure, the term “rider” refers to person who rides a snowboard, splitboard, or other snow glide board. To ride downhill, the rider rejoins the two sections of the splitboard and rides the splitboard as they would an ordinary snowboard.
A boot binding, also referred to simply as “a binding,” is a device for securing the rider's boots to the snowboard or splitboard. Two boot bindings, one for each of the rider's boots, are generally secured to the top surface of the snowboard or splitboard. Each of the rider's boots can be secured to a corresponding boot binding by one or more straps attached to the boot binding. In some designs, the boot bindings include an “ankle strap” that secures the upper portion of the boot near the ankle and a “toe strap” for securing the lower portion of the boot over the toes. The ankle straps and toe straps are generally padded to relieve pressure from the rider's boots and make the ride more comfortable. Padded straps are often constructed of a central spine made of plastic or other semi-rigid material, and covered with a layer of foam and sewn fabric. Other padded straps have been constructed of two layers of plastic. One soft padded layer faces the rider's boot surface. A second outward-facing layer adds structure to the strap.